1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine and, in particular, to an antibacterial gaming machine suitable as a coin or medal gaming machine such as a ball-shooting gaming machine like a pachinko machine or as a rotary drum type gaming machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, various articles and apparatus have adopted antibacterial specifications. Among gaming machines, pachinko machines with antibacterial specifications, for example, have been proposed Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-57614).
Currently, many of pachinko machines are managed as a unit of "territory," i.e., a group of about 10 to 20 machines; and pachinko balls, which are a gaming medium, are supplied, collected, and cleansed by this territory unit.
In the above-mentioned prior art, an ultraviolet irradiating device is disposed in the middle of a cleansing apparatus, where pachinko balls having surfaces coated with a titanium oxide photocatalyst are irradiated with ultraviolet rays so as to enhance their bactericidal effects, and then the pachinko balls are cleansed and further are subjected to sterilization with ozone.
The above-mentioned prior art concerning pachinko machines, however, necessitates pachinko balls coated with a titanium oxide photocatalyst, thus increasing their cost, and this coating has to be taken into account in each event of purchase, exchange, and the like. The apparatus itself is large and expensive. Further, since it requires cleansing, the cleansing liquid itself always has to be kept clean, thus making its management troublesome. Also, it incurs a cost therefor.
In the case of a centralized management system, pachinko balls reach their pachinko machines by way of long supply paths after leaving the cleansing apparatus, so as to be stored in their corresponding storage devices. The supply paths and storage devices usually lack a completely sealed structure and thus are exposed to dust, tobacco smoke, and the like in game arcades. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently clean these individual sections if a degree of cleanliness is to be maintained truly.
On the other hand, there are rotary drum type gaming machines, which are a medal gaming machine, as the so-called other leader of gaming machines, but no antibacterial apparatus such as the one mentioned above has yet been proposed therefor. Therefore, it is often heard that women are reluctant to touch medals in game arcades.
The above-mentioned prior art may be applied to such gaming machines. However, unlike the pachinko machines, the rotary drum type gaming machines often do not carry out centralized management of medals, which are their gaming medium, in general.
Therefore, the above-mentioned prior art cannot simply be applied to rotary drum type gaming machines which are not based on the centralized management system though being similarly categorized as gaming machines.